The present invention relates generally to wire harness assembly machines, and more particularly, relates to a wire transfer and cutting assembly suitable for use with harness assembly machines which terminate multiple harness wires to opposing connector elements at two different termination positions within the assembly machine.
Wire harnesses and cable assemblies are used in numerous electronic products, such as consumer electronic products like televisions, computers and stereo components. Wire harnesses are also used in many larger applications, such as automobiles and may be further used in many industrial control applications. Wire harness manufacturers are constantly searching out ways to reduce the cost of manufacture of the harnesses, as well as to reliably increase the production thereof. Wire harnesses may take a variety of forms, the most common form having a series of parallel wires extending between and terminated to two electrical connector elements.
The connector elements of wire harnesses are typically formed from an insulative material with one or more wire-receiving cavities formed therein. The cavities contain electrical terminals corresponding in number to the wire-receiving cavities. In one type of connector element, the terminals pierce the electrical insulation surrounding the conductor portions of the wires to establish an electrical connection therebetween. The terminals may be located in a first connector element component while the wire-receiving cavities may be located in a second connector element component which engages the first connector element to form a connector element terminated to one end of a series of wires. A second connector element is likewise terminated to the opposite ends of the wires.
There are many different types of fully automated machines for terminating harnesses. One type manufactured by the assignee of the present invention has one termination station at which both ends of a harness are terminated. In operation, a first connector element is terminated to first free ends of a plurality of wires. The terminated connector element is moved along the axis of the wires and the wire fed to a desired length. The wire is then clamped and cut to create second free ends of the wires which are terminated to a second connector element at the termination station. This process is sequentially repeated for each wire harness.
In order to accelerate production, it is desirable that while the second connector elements are terminated to the second free ends, the first connector elements of a subsequent wire harness are terminated to its associated first wire free ends. In order to effect this simultaneous and offset termination, it becomes desirable to have two termination stations. This arrangement poses a problem of managing unterminated wires, especially in the termination of either wire harnesses having large numbers of wires or in the simultaneous termination of multiple harnesses having many wires in total. It is desirable to maintain the order of multiple harness wires as they are transferred between termination locations in a harness-making machine such that the wires are terminated to the second connector elements in their desired order. It is also desirable to protect the second set of wire free ends as they are transferred from the first termination station to a second termination station to ensure that the free ends are readily terminatable at the second termination station. Therefore, a need exists for a transfer mechanism utilizable in the termination of multiple wires which protects the unterminated wire ends as they are transferred from one termination location to another termination location.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved assembly which transfers multiple wires of wire harnesses during the fabrication thereof while maintaining the position of the wires in place within the harnesses.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for transferring wire harnesses during their fabrication in which connector elements are terminated to opposite ends of multiple harness wires along a common line of action, wherein the harness wires are gripped after being terminated to first connector elements at a first termination station at one end thereof of the wires, transferred from the first termination location to a second termination location, maintaining the order of the wires during the transfer movement, protecting the wires during the transfer movement and gripping the wires while the opposite ends thereof are terminated to second connector elements at the second termination location.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a wire positioning and transferring assembly for use in a wire harness-making apparatus wherein first and second work elements are applied to opposing ends of a series of wires, wherein the positioning assembly retains the harness wires in a termination position within a clamping head as the positioning assembly moves between first and second work locations, the clamping head including means for holding the wires in alignment with a series of second work elements, the clamping head having a collapsible wire guide means mounted thereon which protects the ends of the wires during transfer between the first and second work locations and which guide the wire ends as work elements are applied thereto.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a transfer mechanism for transferring a plurality of wires between two wire termination locations in which first and second connector elements are applied to first and second opposite ends of the wires, the transfer mechanism, the shuttle mechanism including two opposing wire griping members, each of the two opposing wire-gripping members being reciprocatable along two different axes which lie along a common line of action between the two termination locations, each wire-gripping member each having a wire-engaging surface thereon defining a wire pathway therebetween, the transfer mechanism further including a collapsible wire locator which maintains loose ends of the harness wires in a preselected order as they are transferred between first and second termination locations, the wire locator maintaining the wire loose ends in alignment with a second termination means, such that when a series of wire connector elements are moved toward the transfer mechanism the wire locator is displaced toward the transfer mechanism to expose the wire loose ends for termination.